Commentary on the economic , geopolitical and simply fascinating things going on. Served occasionally with a side of snark.

Sunday, January 26, 2014

Yonhap reports -- We now learn not only was Jang Song - taek executed , but all relatives of the executed uncle of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, including children and the country's ambassadors to Cuba and Malaysia, have also been put to death at the leader's instruction ... One must wonder what is the real deal with the health situation of Kim Kyong Hui ( Aunt of Kim Jong-un and wife of recently executed Jang Song - taek . )

All relatives of Jang executed too: sources

SEOUL, Jan. 26 (Yonhap) -- All relatives of the executed uncle of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, including children and the country's ambassadors to Cuba and Malaysia, have also been put to death at the leader's instruction, multiple sources said Sunday.

Jang Song-thaek, the once-powerful uncle, was executed last month on charges of attempting to overthrow the communist regime, including contemplating a military-backed coup. All direct relatives of Jang have also been executed, the sources said.

"Extensive executions have been carried out for relatives of Jang Song-thaek," one source said on condition of anonymity. "All relatives of Jang have been put to death, including even children."

The executed relatives include Jang's sister Jang Kye-sun, her husband and Ambassador to Cuba Jon Yong-jin, and Ambassador to Malaysia Jang Yong-chol, who is a nephew of Jang, as well as his two sons, the sources said.

All of them were recalled to Pyongyang in early December and executed, they said. The sons, daughters and even grandchildren of Jang's two brothers were all executed, they said.

It was unclear exactly when they were killed, but they are believed to have been put to death after Jang's death on Dec. 12.

"Some relatives were shot to death by pistol in front of other people if they resisted while being dragged out of their apartment homes," another source said.

Some relatives by marriage, including the wife of the ambassador to Malaysia, have been spared from executions and sent to remote villages along with their maiden families, according to the sources.

"The executions of Jang's relatives mean that no traces of him should be left," a source said. "The purge of the Jang Song-thaek people is under way on an extensive scale from relatives and low-level officials."

9 January, 09:21

Aunt of N Korea's Kim Jong-un in coma, didn't kill herself

Photo: Reuters

Kim Kyong Hui, aunt of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and wife of the purged and executed official Jang Song Taek, is in a vegetative state after undergoing brain surgery, a Seoul daily reported Thursday.

Citing an intelligence official in the United States, the JoongAng Daily said that Kim had surgery for a brain tumor in 2013 in Paris.

She appeared in a scene believed to have been filmed when Kim Jong Un visited, in December 2012, the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, where the leader's grandfather Kim Il Sung, the founder of North Korea, and others are laid to rest.

Jang is known to have accompanied Kim Jong Un on the visit but the footage was edited not to show his image.

Determining whether stories about North Korea are true or false means delving into a very wide, grey area where the genuinely surreal mixes confusingly with the patently absurd.

For example, which of these reports about leader Kim Jong-Un appears - at least on paper - the more likely?

That he executed his uncle by feeding him naked to a pack of starving dogs, or that his birthday celebrations in Pyongyang were led by a serenade from a former cross-dressing, NBA all-star with a penchant for facial piercings and celebrity wrestling?

The latter is borne out by a YouTube video showing ex-Chicago Bulls guard Dennis Rodman's off-tune rendition of "Happy Birthday" before an exhibition basketball match watched by Kim on Wednesday.

On the other hand, the death-by-dog story, which was picked up by some international media, was apparently based on a satirical tweet posted on a Chinese website.

This was then picked up by Chinese newspaper Wen Wei Po, leading to shocked headlines in the Western media.

Differentiating fact from fiction is particularly difficult when it comes to North Korea given the country's profound isolation, which makes any story not sanctioned by its highly secretive regime almost impossible to verify.

At the same time, international interest in what goes on in North Korea is enormous, especially when it comes to sensational stories that satisfy a widespread perception of the country as brutal, backward and bizarre.

These factors combine to create a cavernous media echo chamber that provides resonance and substance to rumour and speculation.

Elements can then be cherry-picked and put together into a sensational news item, as happened with the rumours swirling around Kim's purge and execution of his uncle and political mentor Jang Song-Thaek last month.

The most spectacular version would read something like this:

Kim Jong-Un had his elderly uncle, who had an affair with Kim's wife, fed naked to a pack of 120 starving dogs, thereby inducing a heart attack in his aunt who now lies in a vegetative coma.

A number of these elements originated from the mainstream South Korean media and North Korean defector-run websites - both of which, analysts note, have a vested interest in painting the North and its leadership as a source of unimaginable horror.